Devin McCourty, CB, New England Patriots
McCourty started all 16 games and finished the season with 82 tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles, 17 passes defensed and seven interceptions. His interception total tied for second in the NFL and led all rookies. Four of the picks came during three consecutive games in Weeks 11-13. The seven interceptions by a Patriots rookie are second to the eight by Mike Haynes in 1976. McCourty, who attended Rutgers University, was nominated for two Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week awards.

I voted. But I dunno who's going to win honestly.
I thought Bradford was a shoe in before. But he did lose the game that would have gotten him into the playoffs. Generally QBs are considered sexier picks though. *shrug*

PS If anyone here would be willing to click a million times for McCourty. He would be a shoe in. Lemme know if anyone went that far. Hehe. ^_^

I can understand voting for Suh because of his dominance. However, what I don't understand is why many people act like McCourty is inferior statistically. I've heard so many pundits say "Suh has ten sacks, so his rookie of the year, period." Really? Let me ask you something; as the coach of a football team, what would you rather have: a player that finishes with ten sacks, or a player that finishes with seven interceptions?

An interception is usually a game-changing play, an it increases the odds of winning exponentially. A sack is a loss of yardage that doesn't even end the series, let alone give you back the ball. In terms of Suh's season being ultra-impressive because it hasn't been done before, I don't see why that is relevant. McCourty was still a more valuable player. Suh may be disruptive, but McCourty capitalizes on fewer chances. Imagine if teams threw at McCourty on every down? Well, Suh has a chance to sack the QB on 50-60% of plays from scrimmage.

Anyway, I won't whine when Suh wins the award, but I don't see why this has been a foregone conclusion since Week 3. No other player had any chance to win the award, and Suh only had 3.5 sacks over the second half of the season.

Which player would I rather have long-term? I don't know. Who truly deserves Defensive Rookie of the Year? McCourty.

I voted for McCourty somewhere north of 20 times. However, I don't think he's going to win it. On top of what he did this year, Suh has the sexier name brand as well. I think he's a shoe-in for it. It wouldn't surprise me to see McCourty come in at a close second, though.

One of the knocks on McCourty for DROY, I've heard, is that he plays on an awful pass defense, but last time I checked Suh isn't on the '85 Bears.

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Agreed. The Lions are one of the worst 10 defensive teams in terms of run defense no matter how you measure it, from total yards to yards per game to average per carry. So Suh has not made them a great defensive team against the run.

And while the Pats have given up more passing yards overall, that's only because of the number of attempts. The Lions actually allow a higher average per pass attempt and a higher QB rating. The Pats have allowed 25 passing TDs and intercepted 25 passes, while the Lions have allowed 23 passing TDs (despite facing 100 fewer passing attempts) and only made 14 INTs. So you can't argue that the Lions are much, if any better defensively against the pass either.

And McCourty's done it against one of the tougher schedules in the league for the best team in the league, while Suh did it for a losing team with a 4th place team's schedule.